How to Expand PATA Storage
While getting access to more storage is always a good idea for any computer, sometimes it's less about the amount of storage than the data on the storage device. After all, if you can't connect the device, then you can't get the data.
Why Do Expansion Cards and Interfaces Matter?
One of the great strengths of the PC architecture is that it has always been modular. From the very beginning, its design aimed to support new functionality through the addition of controller cards on various expansion buses. The only catch is that both the expansion buses and the standards have changed over the years, and once-dominant architectures like PATA IDE have now almost completely vanished in favor of serial alternatives. There are two primary reasons for installing an expansion card:
- Adding Extra Ports: Sometimes your motherboard may support a feature, but not offer all the ports you need. Adding a card is an easy way to resolve that problem.
- Adding Extra Functionality: Other times it may be that your current system either doesn't support IDE at all or doesn't support certain IDE features that you need.
What is a PATA Controller Card?
There are two main flavors of PATA controller expansion card, RAID, and non-RAID. Both usually rely on a PCI interface and support the same hard drives, but they have different functionality and purposes:
- RAID: RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks and refers to a method of data protection that uses multiple drives to achieve fault tolerance. There are several different levels of RAID, but the key to the majority of them is that they make it possible to have a hard drive failure without losing any data.
- Non-RAID: Rather than creating an array, these cards simply add PATA support to an existing system. It's a great option for anyone who only has serial ATA support but still needs access to IDE drives.
Serial vs. Parallel
The big shift in ATA interfaces was the move from parallel ATA to serial. The introduction of SATA changed everything from the drive cables to the ports on the motherboard. It also created a situation where a number of people had a range of legacy devices that they could no longer use because the connectors didn't fit. It's the flip side of computer standards. Everything functions so that components can only fit into compatible connectors, but at the same time every change in connectors orphans some legacy technology as part of the price of progress. Luckily, it all comes back around to the fact that computers are modular, so that you can add functions your chipset doesn't support simply by getting the right controller.